The state of the industry pre-Colgan is why I didn't end up following the dream to being an airline pilot, so it's been quite fascinating to watch my friends from that time who did stick with it...
The state of the industry pre-Colgan is why I didn't end up following the dream to being an airline pilot, so it's been quite fascinating to watch my friends from that time who did stick with it experience the industry.
The article's history is sound, and you could write a 10 hour documentary on the full wide ranging effects of what the response to Colgan did to the industry, but you can not deny the incredible post-accident safety record nor can you den the massive increase in both salary and quality of life for "bottom rung" pilots.
What I've personally seen when people argue against "the 1500 hour rule" (notably as the article thankfully points out, actually a rule about having an ATP) are two things:
Regional airlines, as touched on in the article, trying to lobby their way into reducing overhead and labor costs.
New pilots frustrated that they "have to CFI (teach)," often combined with some sort of Libertarians viewpoint on labor.
The first is predictable. Regionals live and die on the margins of flat-rate contracts and "essential air service" government subsidies. They are at the mercy of their partner "mainline" carrier, and the mainline carriers are currently in a great position. In fact, regionals are having no trouble at all hiring pilots, they are having trouble retaining them for long enough that they become Captains. (There's a whole other article you could write about the diminished safety standard that might arise from this dynamic).
Regionals could increase pay, and many have, to keep pilots from trying to get hired at larger carriers who have better pay and benefits, but it's difficult to compete with Delta, especially when you realize that regional flying means 6 to 8 legs per day with short flights, whereas a mainline pilot could fly as little as 1 leg. It's also hard for them to just straight up stay in business, which frankly isn't the worst thing.
The actual issue and concern I and my friends have is that post-Colgan pilots, people who started after the legislation, have no internalized or institutional knowledge of how bad the industry used to be. It was never common knowledge to the public that your pilots may have slept on a couch in the airport and were afraid to call out sick before, it was hardly common knowledge that the airplane with the United logo on the side wasn't actually United. It's why the legislation forced the disclosure. So if the public hardly had any idea, it's no wonder that pilots getting their ratings after many of those issues got resolved have no idea how good they actually have it.
The worry, and why you see this blog talking about the rule in the first place, is that with enough pressure from regionals and the right amount of pilots who are frustrated with needing to gain hours, the good working conditions and pay the ATP rule created will be eroded. When new union members have no knowledge, no understanding of just what was fought for and how tough it was to eek out the gains currently enjoy, those gains are at significant risk.
For the traveling public it's simple, a repeal of the ATP rule would mean creating the conditions such that the pilots of your flight will cut corners, fly tired, and be subject to scummy managers who see dollars not people.
This week: strap in, it's a long one, as the Admiral takes us through the full, fascinating story of America’s last big air disaster and the sea change in aviation safety that it created. If you...
This week: strap in, it's a long one, as the Admiral takes us through the full, fascinating story of America’s last big air disaster and the sea change in aviation safety that it created.
The state of the industry pre-Colgan is why I didn't end up following the dream to being an airline pilot, so it's been quite fascinating to watch my friends from that time who did stick with it experience the industry.
The article's history is sound, and you could write a 10 hour documentary on the full wide ranging effects of what the response to Colgan did to the industry, but you can not deny the incredible post-accident safety record nor can you den the massive increase in both salary and quality of life for "bottom rung" pilots.
What I've personally seen when people argue against "the 1500 hour rule" (notably as the article thankfully points out, actually a rule about having an ATP) are two things:
The first is predictable. Regionals live and die on the margins of flat-rate contracts and "essential air service" government subsidies. They are at the mercy of their partner "mainline" carrier, and the mainline carriers are currently in a great position. In fact, regionals are having no trouble at all hiring pilots, they are having trouble retaining them for long enough that they become Captains. (There's a whole other article you could write about the diminished safety standard that might arise from this dynamic).
Regionals could increase pay, and many have, to keep pilots from trying to get hired at larger carriers who have better pay and benefits, but it's difficult to compete with Delta, especially when you realize that regional flying means 6 to 8 legs per day with short flights, whereas a mainline pilot could fly as little as 1 leg. It's also hard for them to just straight up stay in business, which frankly isn't the worst thing.
The actual issue and concern I and my friends have is that post-Colgan pilots, people who started after the legislation, have no internalized or institutional knowledge of how bad the industry used to be. It was never common knowledge to the public that your pilots may have slept on a couch in the airport and were afraid to call out sick before, it was hardly common knowledge that the airplane with the United logo on the side wasn't actually United. It's why the legislation forced the disclosure. So if the public hardly had any idea, it's no wonder that pilots getting their ratings after many of those issues got resolved have no idea how good they actually have it.
The worry, and why you see this blog talking about the rule in the first place, is that with enough pressure from regionals and the right amount of pilots who are frustrated with needing to gain hours, the good working conditions and pay the ATP rule created will be eroded. When new union members have no knowledge, no understanding of just what was fought for and how tough it was to eek out the gains currently enjoy, those gains are at significant risk.
For the traveling public it's simple, a repeal of the ATP rule would mean creating the conditions such that the pilots of your flight will cut corners, fly tired, and be subject to scummy managers who see dollars not people.
This week: strap in, it's a long one, as the Admiral takes us through the full, fascinating story of America’s last big air disaster and the sea change in aviation safety that it created.
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